Actions Speak Louder
by Hayama 4
Summary: Shounenai warning! This is a KaiXRei fic that's mostly fluff and angst. There's something Kai wants to tell Rei, but he just can't say the words. Will Kai be too late? COMPLETED
1. The Start

Author note- Don't read this if you don't like fluffy Kai X Rei yaoi/shounen-ai. Really, I'm warning you. Forgive me if they're a little OOC. Oh, and this is one of those plots which I built around a title I thought sounded cool. I do that sometimes. I wrote this during my Beyblade kick last year.

Chapter 1- The Start

"The rooms got booked a little late," Kenny sighed. "Four singles were all we were able to get. Two of us have to share..."

"Well," Rei thought aloud, "not Tyson, he snores too loud... not Kenny, he's up at all hours of the night on his laptop..."

Suddenly Max sneezed into a Kleenex and wiped his nose on it. "Not me, I'm still getting over a cold. I'll be fine by the tournament, but I don't want to get any of you sick."

"So!" Tyson declared, making a painfully slow mental calculation, "that leaves Rei and Kai."

Rei shrugged. "I don't mind."

Kai gave a gruff nod and shouldered his duffle bag. He took the room key that Kenny held out to him and walked off with Rei following.

Late that night, Rei awoke from his light slumber to an unfamiliar sound. He rolled over to see Kai sitting up in bed... crying. After overcoming his shock, Rei set his hand gently on Kai's arm. Kai jumped about a foot and turned to face Rei.

"S-sorry" he said as he tried to fall back into his usual emotionlessness. He was trying, but nothing could hide the tears still in his crimson eyes.

Rei shook his head. Was Kai apologizing for waking him, or for crying? "It's alright," Rei said.

Kai only looked away.

"Kai," Rei whispered, "Tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing..." Kai answered.

Suddenly Rei did something Kai would have never expected. Rei wrapped his arms around Kai and drew the slate-haired boy closer to him. "I won't force you to tell me, but I don't like not knowing... I worry about you."

"What?" Kai asked, still in Rei's arms.

"I mean it," Rei said softly, "You mean a lot to me and I worry..."

Rei's sincere words triggered something in Kai that neither of them knew existed. Kai leaned his head against Rei's chest and closed his eyes. "Don't worry. It was only a dream about a past I've already broken free from."

"Your past..." Rei whispered, remembering the way Kai was before he joined the Bladebreakers.

Kai nodded. "But don't worry, you've already saved me from that."

"That doesn't mean I don't still worry," Rei explained.

"Baka," Kai muttered, "If I say don't worry, you shouldn't worry." Kai was back to 'normal' again and quickly falling asleep in Rei's arms.

Rei smiled a little and lay down, his arms still wrapped around Kai. He drew Kai close and tucked Kai's head under his chin.

"I love you," Rei whispered, drifting off to sleep.

Rei awoke to a pair of crimson eyes gazing down at him. "No training today," Kai said.

Rei gave a cat-like yawn and stretched. "Really?"

"We just got here," Kai explained, "Besides, I have too much on my mind today."

There was an awkward silence.

"About last night..." both boys said at once.

"I'm sorry for..." Kai started again.

Suddenly, Rei stood up and slipped his arms around Kai. "I care about you. I hate seeing you so sad, I would have helped you whether you would have wanted me to or not."

"Rei..." Kai whispered, but he couldn't find the words.

Kai was not the kind of person who communicated much through talking. When he wanted something of his teammates, he needed only to glare at them and they knew what to do. Kai's voice was a rare sound, even to Rei's ears.

"He might never be able to say the words directly," Rei thought, "But someday very soon, I will."


	2. Closer

Chapter 2- Closer

A few days had passed, but Kai still felt unsure of what Rei was to him. Kai had thought about his raven-haired teammate as he fell asleep that night, but no words came to mind.

Sleep, however, seemed to be eluding Kai lately. He was awakened in the middle of the night by a cold draft from the open window. Groggily, Kai got up to close it.

Turning back to the bed, Kai saw that Rei was shivering. Kai didn't even have to think. Rei was cold, so Kai would warm him up. He lay down close to Rei and drew the blankets over them both. Rei was sleeping on his back, so Kai put one arm around his waist and rested his head on Rei's shoulder.

Kai was surprised how naturally this action came to him. "Here I am, totally confused in my head, buy my hands seem to do things on their own," Kai thought, "Does that mean I feel more strongly than I thought? Do I ... love him?"

The realization of his feelings filled him with a sudden warmth. "Yes," Kai mused silently, "I love him" Smiling, Kai nuzzled against Rei's sleeping form and fell asleep.

The next morning, Rei woke up in Kai's arms. He smiled and carefully turned to face Kai. "He looks so content when he's sleeping..." Rei thought. It was true, Kai's usual stern expression was gone along with his blue triangles.

Rei could have lay there forever, watching Kai sleeping, hearing him breathing softly. Kai, however, did wake up after a few minutes.

"Rei," he whispered with a smile when he noticed the amber eyes before him. Kai knew what he wanted to say, but when he sat up and opened his mouth, those words wouldn't come out. "I..." Kai just couldn't say the words. "I... um ... hope you weren't cold last night. I left the window open and it got pretty chilly in here."

Rei smiled and sat up too. "Of course not, I had you to keep me warm."

"Oh, that's good," Kai answered. Why couldn't he just say the words?

After a hard day of training, the Bladebreakers were all ready to eat. (especially Tyson) So they hit a restaurant for some dinner.

The way Tyson wolfed down his food was typical for him, but Max and Kenny were eating fast too.

"Um guys?" Rei asked, "Why are you eating so fast. You'll get sick."

"There's this awesome movie on HBO tonight," Max said.

"Yeah!" Tyson exclaimed. "We're gonna watch it in Max's room!"

"I really want to start processing the data from today," Kenny explained.

Rei frowned and looked at his half-finished plate. "But I can't eat _that_ fast..."

"It's okay!" Tyson said, slapping $15 down on the table. "We'll give you our part of the bill and meet you back at the hotel later!"

Max and Kenny did the same. "Bye!" all of them called as they left.

"What idiots," Kai muttered.

"So you're staying?" Rei asked.

'Of course kitten, I'd never leave you alone' was what Kai _wanted_ to say, but all that came out was, "Yeah."

When they finished, Kai and Rei began to slowly walk back to the hotel. They passed a small lakeside park where you could see the sun set from the top of a hill.

"It's beautiful," Rei commented as they walked by.

"Do you want to sit for a while?" Kai asked, "It's not like we're in a hurry."

Rei nodded happily and they sat down on a bench together. It was cool out, and the park was so peaceful and still. Everything about it was so calming.

A chilly breeze blew by them suddenly, and Kai automatically put his arm around Rei like he had the night before. Rei smiled and cuddled up against him just like a cat, laying his head on Kai's chest.

Suddenly Kai did something that neither he nor Rei would ever forget. He turned and, cupping Rei's chin, drew his lips close to Rei's. For a moment Kai paused and they could feel the warmth of each other's breath on their faces. Then, Kai kissed Rei. The neko melted in his arms.

"Kiss me again," Rei whispered when their lips parted.

Kai was pleasantly surprised. "Really?"

Rei wrapped his arms around Kai's neck and looked up at him with shining amber eyes. "Of course. I want you to kiss me over and over, until I can't even breathe. Don't you get it Kai? I love you."

Kai felt warm inside again and with a smile, obliged his kitten.

Author- where was my mind when I wrote that last part?

They soon began walking back to the hotel again, Kai with his arm around Rei for both their protection against the chill night air.

"Rei..." Kai began in a barely audible voice, "there's something I've been wanting to..."

"Look! Ice cream." Rei pointed out, unknowingly cutting Kai off. Sure enough, a couple blocks down, an ice cream shop had just turned on it's neon sign. "I'll race you!" Rei was so obviously happy.

Kai grinned. "Okay. One... Two... Three... go!"

Rei dashed ahead, laughing, while Kai hung back. Kai's legs were longer, so he wanted to give Rei a head start. Rei noticed his competition was not following ans stopped just as he stepped off the curb.

"Come on!" he urged playfully, turning to face Kai.

Kai started to run. "You asked for it!"

Not even the neko-jin saw the car coming. Rei turned around, but too late...


	3. To Lose Everything

Chapter 3- To Lose Everything

"I should have seen it coming..." Kai thought. He was sitting in a hospital waiting room, his clothes covered in Rei's blood. (Author- would the hospital let him walk around covered in blood?) "I can't just sit here... I need to call the others."

Kai walked out into the hall, on his way to a payphone he had seen earlier. Once there, Kai found his hotel room key and some change in his pocket. He dialed the hotel's number off the key.

"Hello? This is the..." a man answered.

"Can I talk to Max Tate?"

There was a pause and the sound of a keyboard clicking.

"Room 224?"

"Yeah..."

The next voice that came over the phone was Max's. "Hey-lo" Max answered.

"Max..." Kai said, his voice shaking.

"Oh, hey Kai! Are you okay? You don't sound so good. Are you and Rei gonna come back to the hotel soon?"

At the mention of Rei's name, Kai lost it. He began to shake and sob so much that Max wondered if it was really Kai on the other end.

"Kai... what's wrong?"

Kai finally calmed down enough to speak. "I'm at the hospital... it's Rei... he didn't see the car..."

Max's happy, energetic voice fell. "Oh God... we'll be right there Kai. Don't worry..."

"Yeah," Kai whispered.

"Okay, see you in a few minutes," Max said.

"Okay..." Kai replied, his voice still shaking.

Kai hung up the phone and began to slowly walk back to the waiting room. He had managed to stop sobbing at least...

"... that boy who got hit by a car." Kai heard someone say. He whirled around to see two nurses talking.

"Yeah," one said, "they just finished working on him in the OR. He almost didn't make it. He lost so much blood, and his heart stopped at one point too..."

"But he's stable now right?" the other nurse asked.

"Yeah," said the first, "that kid's got some will to live..."

Kai could no longer hear the conversation as the nurses walked on down the hall.

Rei had almost died...

That thought ran through Kai's head over and over and over as he walked back to the waiting room.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"He's stable for now," Kai recalled the doctor saying, "but I'm afraid I can't tell you when he'll wake up. He might not wake up..."

Kai couldn't bear the thought of that. For almost two days he had sat a Rei's side, willing him to wake up. "Koneko please... please open your eyes. What will I do without you? I should have told you before... that I love you. I love you..." Kai buried his head in Rei's blankets.

"Kai..." came a sudden whisper.

Kai looked up and his eyes met with a pair of amber ones. Kai couldn't even speak.

"I ran out into the street, didn't I?"

Kai nodded.

"Baka," Rei said to himself.

Kai was crying.

"What's wrong?" Rei asked.

"I was so worried about you..." Kai said. "I thought... I should have told you before... but I couldn't... I... I love you Rei."

Rei smiled sadly. "I knew Kai."

"But..."

"It didn't matter that you never actually said it to me. I knew you loved me. Actions speak louder than words."

FIN

Author- Dramatic, ne?


End file.
